Klášter Castle, Late Baroque château in Klášter, Vilémov, Czech Republic

Klášter Castle is a château in the Czech Republic that combines early Baroque elements with monastic buildings in one stone complex. Inside, you'll find decorated halls and spacious courtyards enclosed within thick walls.

A Benedictine monastery, one of the largest in Central Europe, stood here from the 12th century; it was burned by Rudolf of Habsburg's troops in 1278 and taken by Hussite forces in 1421. Abolished in 1575, its ruins passed to Rudolf II, who sold them; a fortress rose in 1578 and around 1689 Václav Ferdinand Caretto-Millessimo had a château built, later reshaped in late Baroque form by architect Jan Josef Wirch.

The name Klášter ("monastery") recalls the Benedictine abbey founded here in the 12th century, one of the largest in Central Europe, dissolved in 1575. The present late-Baroque château, built around 1689 for Václav Ferdinand Caretto-Millessimo, is owned by the Rajský family of Dubnice and used for conferences and social events.

The château is privately owned by the Rajský family of Dubnice and is not normally open to the public, so there are no guided tours of the halls. The grounds lie in Klášter, part of Vilémov u Golčova Jeníkova in the Havlíčkův Brod district; the building was listed as a cultural monument in 1963.

The château's grounds include the Zámecká obora, a roughly 11-hectare game park named after Vladimír Reiský, who restored the buildings between 1992 and 1997 after returning from emigration in the USA. An avenue of old oaks runs through the park and ends at a pond dam.